


Clockwork

by snowyfoxpaws



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, merman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2014-05-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 08:58:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1545080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowyfoxpaws/pseuds/snowyfoxpaws
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Well-oiled gears in a machine that never stops running. Perpetual and haunting, a world with no purpose but to devour.</p><p>As a Gifted, Alfred has taken it upon himself to rescue the kidnapped and the captured, each acquisition to his supernatural collection a soul he can attempt to mend, but everything changes when he begins his newest project—rekindling the will to live in the heart of a merman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"A beaut', isn't it?" The man said, tapping the glass affectionately as he looked at the lord with a great deal of pride. "Y' can't find 'em like this anymore—too 'ard to catch. But every once in a while we snag one. It's a lot o' work." The man's cold eyes gleamed. "Fetches quite the nice price though."

  
Alfred looked at the merman in the tank, his own expression drawn and neutral. The amount of money the merchant charged for his wares was ludicrous, but he always knew to come to the lord first.  
  
He always knew there was a chance Alfred would bite.

The creature was, indeed, a lovely sight—webbed ears and fingers with graceful, curving lines of emerald fin running up its arms. Dark, thick lashes framing unblinking green eyes that peered out with an enchanting, mesmerizing shimmer. Its torso was pale and long until it met scaled flesh, the gentle curve of human spine twisting back into a magnificent and lengthy tail, the jeweled ridges tapering off into a gentle splay of translucence.

It reminded Alfred of a queen, lofty and comfortable and bedecked only in the finest jewels and silk—yet this garb was the creature's very _body_ , naked as the day it was born, and it made him feel enamored just to look at it.

And yet...

"He looks sick." The lord criticized, frowning deeply to show just how _truly_ that upset him. It was partially an act. The merman _did_ appear grossly underfed. He could even see his ribs from where the creature rest listlessly in the tank, unmoving as though he were dead.  
  
Only the glimmer of his eyes said otherwise.  
  
The merchant laughed, "Well this 'ne's more human 'n most so 'e stopped eatin' the second we had 'im under glass."  
  
Alfred raised a brow at that. "So what you are saying is that he could kill himself off from starvation and you still want me to pay such a price for him?" The merchant paled visibly at the lord's words, realizing what kind of hole he'd just dug himself into. "What kind of fool do you take me for?" Alfred asked coldly, eyes narrowing. "Get out of my castle."  
  
"N- now wait just a moment—," The merchant wrung his hands, approaching. "Look, I know it's a bit of a risk on yer part—I understand—but you know about those myths, right? They're all true, every bloomin' one."  
  
Alfred gave him an unimpressed stare. It was a practiced one.  
  
The merchant crumbled under his gaze. "If you'll reconsider, I'll uh— I'll halve the price." He finally conceded.  
  
Alfred felt the side of his lip curl.  
  
"I suppose I can spare the coin..."  
  
  
  
"What are you going to do with it, sire?" His adviser asked, the dark-eyed man staring inquisitively into the tank. It was still settled in the reception hall where the merchant had first dragged it in with the help of around ten servants. And now there it sat, a large, glass enclosure that housed his newest collection piece.  
  
"I'm not sure." Alfred admitted, openly admiring the creature now that the merchant was gone. He never could truly show the man just how excited he was about his wares or the price would magically double upon his next visit, as it had this time. He hoped the man had learned his lesson. Alfred's money was a fair bit too valuable to risk losing, after all.  
  
"We could put it in the garden with the faeries." Kiku said softly, but then again he said everything softly. "It would not take much to construct a fountain for it."  
  
Alfred made a face. "I suppose, but it might be kinda unhappy in something that shallow, don't you think?"  
  
Kiku lifted a sleeve to his smiling face, regarding his lord mirthfully. "You are the enthusiast, my lord. I shall leave the arrangements to you."  
  
  
  
Eventually Alfred settled on placing the creature in his office.  
  
That's what important people did, right? They had pets and aquariums housed in their office. It made for a good conversation piece for guests while also discretely flaunting the wealth of the owner. At the same time, it provided entertainment for those long work hours. Being a lord might have been extravagant, but it wasn't a matter of just sitting on his wealth. He actually had to manage a fairly large sprawl of land and if his citizens weren't happy, well, they let him know. _Oh boy_ , did they let him know.  
  
Soon the tank was situated properly, its square frame snug against a wall, replacing the ornate painting of his late father that had hung there. He had loved the man, but he was certain it was unnecessary to have his face watching him work at all hours. And it was uncomfortable when people commented on his passing upon seeing it. No, this merman was a nice change, he was certain.  
  
"Hey." Alfred said, kneeling in front of the tank. The merman was settled on the bottom, limp, but it looked up at him. "You hungry?"  
  
No reaction. He had expected as much.  
  
"My name's Alfred. And I know what you're thinking: why should you care, huh? I guess because..." He moved to sit cross-legged in front of the tank, staring into it.  
  
Alfred smiled softly and took off his glasses.  
  
The merman jerked, looking at him with more emotion than he had seen on the creature's face since it had gotten here. Really, _any_ emotion would have been. The lord laughed softly, "I know, I know. Surprised, are you?"  
  
To his dismay, the creature said nothing, now staring at him warily.  
  
"I'm a Gifted." He explained at the silent questioning. He knew his eyes had given him away, but some creatures weren't sure what to make of it.  
  
Some had described the gentle glow as chilling. Others thought it was warm. He was certain that those that saw it perceived what they wanted to see, so he wondered which it was for his newest acquisition.  
  
"So... even if you speak in your native tongue, I'll be able to understand you. Does that make sense?" He asked, hoping the finned man would respond.  
  
The merman merely stared at him, guarded and uneasy. Alfred sat in front of him in silence for a good five minutes before sighing and running a hand through his hair. "You really don't need to be so skittish, but..." The lord cast a glance to the side, his mind whirring with imagined scenarios. This poor creature could have been through any number of ordeals. Who was he to tell him who to trust? "I understand."  
  
The creature moved just ever so slightly, a very faint twitch of his head.  
  
Alfred smiled at him. "That's what I do here, you know." He felt a warmth thrumming in his chest. "I rehabilitate creatures like you. I guess... I guess what I want to do is save all of you, but I know it's not that easy. Being a hero sounds nice on paper, but..." He rubbed at his face and then tried to shake off some of the fatigue. "Well, let's just say I've seen a lot of damage done to your kind—nor mermen per se, but anything with less than one hundred percent humanity..." Alfred blinked, looking at him. "In fact, I've never met a merman before at all. I hope you'll excuse my inexperience..."  
  
It was apparent that the creature was listening from the way its brow remained very consciously furrowed, eyes trained on him. There was a thick wall of mistrust between them, that much was obvious.  
  
"Let me go."  
  
Alfred jerked at the sound of the voice, his head snapping up to stare at the merman more intently. The creature's eyes narrowed at him.  
  
"You claim to want to help me... so help me by _letting me go_."  
  
The merman was not the first to request such a thing. Alfred stared down at the carpet he was sitting on. He could feel his own features contorting into a tense expression of grief. "It's... not that easy." He said.  
  
The merman just watched him, his gaze one of piercing scrutiny.  
  
What Alfred said next could make or break any possible progress to be made here. If he misspoke, it was likely that the merman would never come to trust him at all...  
  
It was likely that Alfred would never even be given the chance.

He simply couldn't bear to lose another one.

"Look..." He began, worrying his lower lip. "You... _can't_ return."  
  
Those eyes became slits, eerie colors swirling in murky, green depths like light on the surface of the ocean.  
  
"I know—... I know you don't know where you are or how you got here and it makes sense to you that I could just send you back to where you came from, but the problem is..." Alfred ran a hand through his hair. He hated  _the talk_. "You're not in  _your_ world anymore."  
  
The merman's expression faltered, if only for a second, but Alfred took it as a gesture to continue.  
  
"The men who brought you to my hall were merchants who specialize in..." He exhaled a controlled breath, feeling nauseated, " _abduction_." It was too difficult to look at the merman anymore so he tipped his head down, eyes trained on the carpet. "It's _illegal,_  but... that doesn't stop them. This world isn't like yours—it's a  _hub_. It's  _accessible_. And every other world is our playground, to visit as we please. And the worst part is, none of those other worlds can fight back. If I wanted to return you, I wouldn't even know  _where_  to start. The worlds we can access move in and out like sand in the desert. It can be _right there_ , within reach, and then buried in moments. It's roulette... It could take years for your world to come to the front again and it may only linger there for a single moment... It'd be impossible to know when..."  
  
His hand fisted the fabric of his pants as he felt a flood of anger. He called it  _poaching,_  to do what these merchants did, but how on earth could that ever even be enough to describe the terrible act of ripping someone clean from their own world? With no chance or return?  
  
"I'm so sorry... I know you don't want to hear this but..." He felt his throat tighten considerably and he swallowed, tears pricking in his eyes although he blinked them away quickly. "You can _never_ go back. You are dead to that world now."  
  
He heard a noise that sounded like a melodic hiccup and looked up.  
  
His heart froze.  
  
Before him the merman's face was twisted into one of agony and, as he cried, his tears beaded into soft, white pearls, ghosting slowly down to the bottom of the tank where they gently clattered to rest.


	2. Chapter 2

Alfred was fairly certain that he had messed up.  
  
After his confrontation with the merman, the creature had taken to laying on his stomach, facing away from the outside world with his magnificent tail flared up against the side of the tank. Around him pearls were scattered and, after a time, Alfred was certain that they were growing in number. Of course he never again caught the merman crying, but it was just as well because the evidence was all the same.  
  
Long hours in his office became tedious but, as he was a lord, he had work to do and so he continued on, uncertain if he regretted having the tank placed in here or not. Yet after a couple days with no movement from the creature, he started to relax a little bit. Whatever Alfred was up to, it certainly didn't interest the merman.  
  
Still, he was worried. This reaction, while normal, was punctuated by the fact that the creature hadn't eaten anything and was continuing to ignore food. Alfred let this go by for three days before he felt a creeping, frantic feeling about it.  
  
It was that night, as he was climbing into bed, that he realized that the merman may be trying to kill himself.  
  
The next morning had him at the tank's side, an array of fish on hand. "Hello." He said gently to the silence. He thought he saw a fin twitch, but he wasn't sure.  
  
The merman didn't move.  
  
He placed the plate down and moved around to the side of the tank peering inside. The merman was limp, as though he were lying down, and his eyes were closed. "Hey, you okay in there?" He said, rapping the glass lightly. When nothing happened, he stood back and frowned.  
  
And then, suddenly, it occurred to him that perhaps he really  _wasn't_  fine. What if he was hurt or, worse, dying? Alfred couldn't check his vitals as easily as he could the other creatures' in his care. What he had completely missed the signs and now his newest guest was suffering for it?  
  
With that in mind he shirked his heavy coat and pulled himself up the side of the tank, scrambling at the glass as he tugged himself forward, over, and then in with an uncontrolled arc.  
  
He hit the water with a splash, the cool liquid pressing in on him as little waves overflowed the edges of the tank and spilled down the side. He payed no mind to that, holding his breath and sinking down into the shallow depths.  
  
The merman turned, looking up at him with wide, startled eyes. Whatever peace he had had seemed to have been ripped from him as he flailed, tail flared and swinging, the creature obviously panicking with how his chest heaved and his arms scrambled at the wall behind him. Alfred felt relief, but at the same time a shot of regret took hold of him as he watched those elegant features shift between fear and anger like a candle.  _"D- don't coming any closer--!"_   The merman said warningly, although he looked completely defenseless. His voice was warped and strange to hear under the water and Alfred had the distinct impression that maybe this was all due to his using his own language. It sounded eerie and melodic, whatever it was.  
  
Making for the surface again, he gasped in a breath of air, floating there, too eager to explain himself to bother pulling himself out of the tank just yet. "I'm sorry." He said down into the water. "You weren't moving so I thought maybe something bad had happened to you. You haven't been eating and--,"  
  
He was surprised when the merman glided through the water up to meet him, slightly taken aback by his out-of-water appearance. His hair clung to his face, framing dark lashes and glowing green eyes, and his lips were a soft rose color despite always being under water. His skin was pale, like a doll's, and his ears had a shimmering emerald webbing that ran down the length of his neck and down to his back. Alfred was momentarily mesmerized.  
  
And then the merman moved in, curious and wary but with a sharp look to his features. Alfred should have moved-- should have fled. He didn't know what the merman was capable of and it was not unheard of for particle creatures to be more inclined towards attacking humans, whether for fun, aggression, or food. Yet he was still--unnaturally so--and he wasn't sure whether it was the merman's eyes or a spell.  
  
Forward, forward, forward-- and then their lips met.  
  
It was a chaste brush, but Alfred felt his entire body run hot and that, he knew, was no spell.  
  
The creature back away, looking completely unfazed by the exchange.  
  
"Why--?" Alfred said, having trouble finding words.  
  
The merman tilted his head, rivulets of water streaming down his neck from locks of damp hair. "That is how we greet one another when we meet in the ocean." He said slowly, as though testing out whether or not he had done something bad. His eyes were watching Alfred very, very carefully. "You were far away before."  
  
The Gifted swallowed. "O- oh, I see..."  
  
"Was it wrong?"  
  
"No--!" Alfred didn't want him to discard his own culture now that he was here, after all. Or, at least, that's what he told himself. "No, it was fine. We don't do that normally, but I understand. It made you feel better, right?"  
  
The merman hesitated for a moment and then nodded, albeit slowly. Then he looked away. "I was not hurt or sick." He said, and it took Alfred a moment to realize that he was referring to earlier. "I was resting. I feel... very tired."  
  
"Tired?" The lord repeated, blinking. Realizing that he was still floating in the water, he moved to the edge of the tank, but the moment his hand touched it the merman made a sharp, disgruntled noise. When he looked back, the creature wasn't looking at him.  
  
Curious...  
  
He released the edge and he could see the male's entire body relax.  
  
 _Doubly_ curious.  
  
Not making a move for the wall again, Alfred turned his attention back to his guest. "How do you feel tired?"  
  
The merman was looking at him with an intense gaze, eyes momentarily flicking between the lord and the tank's edge before he drifted slightly closer, as though he were afraid Alfred might try to leave. "I... don't quite understand it. The water feels dead. It... It's very draining."  
  
"Are you just hungry?"  
  
The creature's expression turned odd and he cocked his head. "What is that?"  
  
"What is what?"  
  
"Hungry?"  
  
"Oh, uh..." Alfred's brow furrowed. "You know-- putting things in your mouth, chewing, swallowing--?"  
  
The look he gave him was that of someone who had heard something vulgar. "W- what--?"  
  
"Well how do you stay alive? Where do you get energy from?" He tried again, certain that something would get through to him.  
  
"From the water." The merman said, as though it were natural.  
  
"Okay, but where do you get the rest of it? What do you give to little babies and the like?"  
  
The merman was drawing closer now, inch by inch. "We pull energy from the water." He looked more lively now, eyes round and bright, and he was staring at him.  
  
Alfred tried to puzzle this one out.  
  
From the water, huh? If that was true then that meant he was probably siphoning it from--  
  
Oh.  _Oh_.  
  
He takes energy from other things in the water vampirically.  
  
Alfred was currently in the water.  
  
Suddenly he understood--  
  
  
  
And yet that didn't quite explain why the merman suddenly pressed himself flush against him, forcing Alfred's back up against the glass.


	3. Chapter 3

Alfred wasn't certain how to react to being pinned to a tank wall by a merman, but a small, naughty part of his brain pleasantly told him that this was, by far, not the _least_ enjoyable thing he had ever experienced.

"You have a lot of energy..." The merman breathed up against the side of his neck, that thick, muscular tail keeping him pinned. "May I have some? Just a little? Just stay a little longer? Please--? I'm so tired..."

His voice had that melodic edge to it even out of water. It felt like someone was chanting in his ear when he spoke, the sounds hypnotic. "O- okay..." He agreed without thinking, his body relaxing now that he didn't need to think about keeping himself afloat.

The merman was very much taking care of that for him, firm tail effectively keeping him in place.

Warning bells sounded off in his brain and yet...

And yet nothing came. The merman just stayed there, not moving. He didn't bite him or try to seduce him. In fact, he looked content to just stay as they were.

Panic fading slightly, he noticed that he could see glimmering lines running down the creature's body. They would light up as some kind of glow passed through them and then disappear. They looked gold on his skin and like jewels on his tail, but they very distinctly brought forth images of some of the electronics that merchants tried to sell off from other worlds.

Not that he thought the merman was anything like that.

No, he was definitely a living creature if Alfred could speak with him. That much was certain. Still, the strange glowing lines were fascinating. They looked like they were concentrated in his tail, too, the amount far more there.

So caught up in his observations, it took Alfred a moment to realize that the merman was looking at him. He offered the creature a careful smile, although he was beginning to feel a little drowsy. It was certainly the merman's doing.

"So, if you're gonna feed off me like this, do you mind telling me your name?"

The merman blinked, tilting his head slightly. At such a close proximity, Alfred could see the surreal shine of his eyes, the irises a glittering kaleidoscope of glowing greens. It was enchanting.

"Arthur."

Alfred blinked, realizing he'd gotten caught up in staring. "Oh-- Arthur?" He paused. "Your name is Arthur?" He had a lot of creatures in his care, admittedly, and he could count on one hand the few who had names that he could adequately pronounce.

"Yes. Is that strange?"

"No!" Alfred said, smiling slightly. "No, it's great. Arthur's a nice name, I mean."

Arthur looked pleased by this. "And your name is Alfred?" The merman asked, frowning lightly. "That is not your full name, is it?"

"Haha, you got me. It's Alfred F. Jones." He left off the lord part. The supernatural and mythological had varying reactions to that particularly title.

The merman's eyes narrowed. "That is not your full name." He said again. _"Is it?"_

Alfred regarded him carefully for a moment, his smile going awkwardly tense. "I suppose not." He said. The middle name was important, after all. Without his full name, most creatures wouldn't be able to magic him into some kind of puppet or take control of him. If the legends were true about merfolk, then Arthur was probably capable of something like that. Sure, he could do quite a bit with his first and last name, but the full name was where the real danger was. "Is _your_ full name Arthur?" He asked in return.

The merman blinked, frowning lightly. He looked generally displeased. "Yes." He said.

Suddenly Arthur twisted away from Alfred and into the water, the release catching the human by surprise as his head slipped underneath the surface before he caught himself and floated back up again. Once there he cast a look into the tank, wiping water out of his eyes. It seemed that something about what he had said had bothered Arthur, because the merman had taken to sulking at the bottom again.

Alfred pulled himself out of the tank, meeting no resistance, and decided that he'd probably made enough progress for today.

 

"How is your new project doing, sire?" Kiku asked him gently, wisely catching him away from his office to ask such a question.

Alfred thought about this for a moment. "It's... slow going." He admitted, sheepish. It had been two weeks since Arthur had been brought in now, but they'd spoken only twice. The merman reminded him of a little fish in a little bowl, fated to an early death. The only difference was that the merman was self-aware of his place in the world. "I'm not really sure what to do. I try to make conversation, but he just ignores me."

Kiku tipped his head, the motion elegant. "Under what circumstances did you last speak?"

"I already told you-- I got into the tank and--,"

"So perhaps he does not like speaking to you while you are not in the water with him. As a merman, he would be unused to such circumstances. Perhaps you could try filling up the bath with cool water and joining him there?"

The lord blinked. "You're a genius!" He crowed, immediately turning on his heel to try out the new idea.

The adviser chuckled at his back fondly before moving on to continue his work.

 

The large bathing quarters of the castle were blocked off the following afternoon, the fires dampened into cinder and the water left to cool.

The tricky part was transporting Arthur, actually, and, after some fuss, he decided that just moving the tank and dumping it into the bath, pearls, merman, and all, would be the easiest route.

Eventually, after a great deal of trouble, they carefully slipped the glass frame onto its side, releasing the creature within into the sprawling tub. With that, he ordered everyone to leave.

And so he was alone with the merman.

It was a communal bathing location, kept painstakingly clean, so it was easy to spot him gliding underneath the surface, the bright, white tile a contrast against his dark tail. Alfred was amused to watch as he took to circling and dipping in lazy figures, stretching unused muscles. Considering that Arthur had spent most of the last week lying still at the bottom of his tank, this was a good surprise.

Alfred wasted no time in stripping off his clothing and putting on a towel. Arthur was pretty much naked, after all, so he probably wouldn't care. Most creatures not accustomed to wearing clothes didn't seem to mind nudity.

As he stepped into the water he noticed the merman still, no longer swimming. He watched with interest as Arthur started to drift closer but kept a distance at first, amused. The water was a little cold, but it was much warmer than a river or lake would have been this time of year, so he settled himself down on a ridge of seat and waited.

He needn't wait very long.

The merman glided closer and closer--

\--and then uncomfortably close as he came up out of the water in a sudden motion, brushed their lips, and then darted back under with such grace that it seemed almost like a game. Alfred beamed at the upset bath, wondering if the merman could make it out beneath the ripples. "Hello to you, too."

A short distance away his head peaked out from the clear liquid, but only down to his eyes. It was warbled, but Alfred could clearly hear as the other said, "What is this place?"

"It's a bath. Normally the water's hot and used for cleaning, but for now we cooled it down. I thought you might like the swim."

Arthur peered at him. He couldn't see his expression beneath the water, but his brow did furrow. He had... very expressive eyebrows, to say the least. "I am staying here now?"

The lord bit his lip, thinking. "You like it here?"

This time the merman came up out of the water, rivulets running down his chest. "I like water and open spaces." He glanced meaningfully at the tank.

So it _was_  really too small. Kiku was right and his own intuition had been correct. Alfred sighed. "You can't stay here, but..." He crossed his arms, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "I suppose I could have something bigger built. Until then, though, you'd have to settle for visits here. Maybe one a week at best."

Arthur was drifting closer again. "I do not like the box." He said firmly.

Yeah, that was fair enough.

"I'll figure something out, okay." The merman was staring at him intently. "What? Something on my face?" He laughed.

Arthur was apparently a rather tactile creature, because he came up and settled himself right between Alfred's legs and prodded his chest. "You shed? You are different colors now?"

Alfred blinked. And then he laughed slightly, even as the merman's expression went from curious to disgruntled. "No-- no, I took off my clothes."

"Clothes?" Arthur repeated.

"Things humans wear. It keeps us warm."

The merman gave an indignant sniff. "Your body doesn't keep you warm?"

"No, I suppose it doesn't."

"You are very peculiar." Arthur's palm came up to his chest again, webbed fingers flattening against it and stroking the surface. "Your skin feels strange, but you look as I do." The merman spared a glance at his legs. "Mostly."

Alfred was about to say something about how they were different species and so that was natural--

But suddenly that palm shifted down his body and stopped at the slight bulge beneath the towel. And then it pressed down as Arthur's eyes widened in surprise. "This is clothing too--?" He said, suddenly grabbing at the white cloth.

"No, wai--,"

Too late.

Arthur stripped him of the small bit of fabric with more ease than Alfred would have thought possible. He sputtered as his half-erection was revealed--what, he'd been felt up! he couldn't help it!--but then he stopped.

And, damn it all, he laughed.

The merman wasn't looking at him, but at the towel, practically marveling at it. "It's so soft!" He exclaimed, promptly rubbing it against his cheek.

Alfred suddenly realized how he had to handle Arthur.

Different creatures had different natures and he'd pegged this one's completely wrong. Arthur wasn't stoic and standoffish--

He was like a little kid.


End file.
